Forty-Seventh Year
by Wijida
Summary: Kathryn Janeway's forty-seventh birthday hath arrived...now, what..or who..exactly could be missing from the party?


**Disclaimer**: If you don't know...Paramount owns Voyager, and the last episode doth approach...*sob*   
  


Forty-Seventh Year

By Manda

  
  


She stood in the doorway, looking out apon a shuttlebay teeming with the well-fed, healthy and jubilated members of her crew. A skeleton crew was on duty that night, or so she assumed, as so many passed her by to wish her all the best on her birthday.

It was her forty-seventh. Not an easy birthday for any woman to face, and as she had barely entered her forty-first year when Voyager had been flung by the hands of fate into the Delta Quadrant- her crew thrust into a long and trying journey--she'd begun to wonder. Now that home was a great deal closer than it had been five years ago, she felt a renewed sense of hope that her forty-eighth birthdaymight be celebrated in her hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, surrounded by her family...

"And the happiest of birthdays to you, Captain!" Neelix was dressed in his usual dressy and rather gaudy blue jacket, standing out well to Janeway's eye as he wove through the sea of bodies and directly to her position near the entrance. "Now, what are you standing along for? Come--join your party!"

"Thank you, Neelix." He took her jacket, leaving her standing self-conciously in Irish green spaghetti gown, hands trailing down her sides to brush nervously at the skirt. It was an amazing gesture, she realized, that he had orchestrated the entire celebration with so very little assistance--she admired and respected that. "I intend to."

Eyes that saw so much were scanning the crowd, spotting faces that were, ashamedly, more familiar than others...a fact she dearly intended to change in the next few months. As Neelix gently led her to a central table, she brushed past shoulders and dancing pairs that wished her 'happy birthday' and 'good luck' when she huskily excused herself. Friends were seated at her table, and she accepted a pulled out chair with sparkle and smile.

However, one friend was missing. One crucial family member, without whom she could not imagine celebrating. As the party surged on around her, the table at which she sat became immediately filled with more and more of her senior staff--or majority of. B'Elanna Torres had positioned herself strategically to her captain's left, clothed in what Janeway saw to be a low cut, yet elegant space-black gown. The captain smiled graciously as the half-klingon struck up a lively conversation- the two had become closer in past months, pleasing Janeway greatly that the young woman would choose to sit beside her and allow her presence that evening. Tom Paris held the ringed hand of his wife, pride tinging his tone as he spoke, fingers pale as they grazed her dark tinted skin and reached to softly stroke the round puff of her stomach.

"Can I get you a drink, Captain?" Harry Kim- so very experienced in life, despite his youth- appeared at her elbow. He'd changed so much since day one, since she'd held such a protective chamber of her heart for him. Wanted to get him home to his parents in one piece, their only son. He'd lived through everything thrown at him, sacrificed what he'd needed, and quite honestly fought her tooth and nail when he'd needed to. Something, as she stared into his almond-brown eyes, that she had needed him to do from time to time.

_Your parents would be proud of you. I am._

"Captain?"

"Just water, Harry." She smiled, adjusting her position cautiously as the young man disappeared toward Neelix, manning the makeshift bar in a far corner. 

"Where's Commander Chakotay?" Kathryn's head snapped up, eyes landing instantly on young Naomi Wildman and Seven of Nine--Seven looking uncomfortable and out-of-place in a baby-pink dress not unlike that of B'Elanna Torres. The former drone- who was so truly a child at heart- had so very much to learn, taking Naomi Wildman as a mentee down her rocky path of individuality.

"I am uncertain." Seven's icy orbs skimmed the assembled crew, and down they went to scrutinize Naomi. "Why do you ask?"

"Doesn't he care about the captain?" The child inquired. "Shouldn't he be here?"

__

Yes. Where is he?

The girl turned, caught her Captain's gaze, and waved. Kathryn waved back, heart heavy by the innocent question, just as innocently overheard. Naomi moved off with Seven, and it gave their captain an excuse to vacate her positon at the table. She had to escape, if only for a moment. Curious, after years of disliking the concept, that she would so desire to be alone on her celebrated day.

Inconspiculously she rose, bobbing and weaving through the groups, in search of the sole exit in the vast room. Only one, and her heart constricted.

_Am I running away? Do I want to?_

She pivoted, watched her 'family', her friends, her crew as they celebrated her day. An occasion that, for their leader, was both bittersweet and memorable. Her thoughts were chaotic, mad, and she could imagine that she needed only one person to quell the calamity. Needed one person more than she needed her best friend.

Her mother.

"Going somewhere?" There was a hand, appearing on her bare arm- she swallowed tears and turned with preparation to face a displeased Neelix or wise cracking Tom Paris- little had she expected to stare into wisened brown eyes--yeras of experience and support staring back.

"Chakotay." Her hands remained at her sides in close-shock, their owner struggling to regain her composure. Forcing a stiff smile, she held her head up. "I assumed you weren't going to make it."

"I wouldn't miss it. You look beautiful for forty-seven, Kathryn." Her dress had meant little to her, although she realized now that her mother would have loved the Irish lass in her irish finest, as Chakotay seemed to now. 

She shivered, despite the body heat that radiated throughout the room. It was rediculous , and she knew it- yet she could imagine her cheeks flushing slightly. What a fool.

"Thank you." _Oh, please, let me go. I won't make it if you don't._

Music struck up, and Chakotay's arm took hers.

"Dance with me?"

_NO._

"Yes..." His embrace was similar to his demeanor, strong and silent as he directed her onto the now oddly sparse floor. Yet, a softness appeared in his eyes and made him light on his feet, despite all her misgivings about it.

"I have something for you." Chakotay grinned, hand reaching for the pocket of his sable jacket. "Happy birthday."

"You shouldn't-" 

"But I did." He interrupted, withdrawing a box of crushed velvet, blue, and spectacularly soft in her smooth white palm. Kathryn blanched. 

"Chakotay, what is it?" The vessel seemed to loom large in her small hands, and his hand ventured to touch it. 

"Open it." He waited, the couple standing still amongst lesser crowds than once before, so many watching as their Captain began to lift the hinged lid, sapphire orbs glowing in nervous apprehension. 

"My god... a friendship ring. It's very handsome." Her heart tightened as the first officer slipped the trinket apon her right ring finger. His lips brushed her cheek in a gentle kiss, and she smiled as the tears spilt forward.

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


"I am honored.." Captain Kathryn Janeway stood on a chair before her assembled surrogate family, irish ancestry an aura about her--in the form of proud determination, fortified eyes of blue.

_Mommy would want to be here..._

"I am honored," She began again. "To be surrounded on my birthday by my family and those I love- at a time when the truly most important person in my life..my mother..could not be with me. I know now that I am not and never will be alone- not as long as I have you all here with me." Her smile met Chakotay's, and she chuckled softly. "All of you."

"Hear, hear." It was Tom, she assumed, accepting Chakotay's offered hand and stepping down into the arms of fate- for only fate could have given her the family and love she required, and the chance of a lifetime. 

And as Chakotay led her away, the gleaming emerald on her finger shone brightly. 

"You can't possibly convey how I feel." She whispered, smiling at the glistening bauble.

_How very happy I am._

  


~Fin

  


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